SEC Head Coach Speaks Highly of Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby speaks very highly of Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel during a football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby speaks very highly of Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel.

It's not uncommon for head coaches in college football to have crossed over with one another at some point in their careers. Part of the process to becoming a head coach is working your way up the totem pole and that usually requires a coach to make stops a multiple schools. That's exactly how Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby ended up working together.

Lebby joined the UCF coaching staff the same year Heupel was named head coach back in 2018. Lebby started out as the quarterbacks coach and then the next year was listed as the offensive coordinator. While the now Mississippi State head coach was only at UCF for two seasons, it was plenty of time for Heupel to make a massive impact on his coaching career.

Lebby joined the ESPN College Gameday Podcast and got into a conversation about where his offense got started. He called back to his days with Heupel at UCF.

“Josh Heupel was the one, at UCF, that gave me the opportunity to coach the [quarterbacks] every single day,” said Lebby. “And he’s the one that created so much confidence for me in being able to help a guy, to be able to fix a guy, to coach the fundamentals of the position. Not just how to get to his decision making and where to go with the football and situationally understanding things, because that’s one thing. But the fundamental side of it, that is who created so much confidence for me in coaching the position every single day.... So that’s where it all happened.”

Lebby is on the verge of entering his first season as the head coach at Mississippi State after a few years at both Ole Miss and Oklahoma calling plays. Both Heupel and Lebby are now head ball coaches at SEC programs and face one another during the 2024 season. The first-time head coach will have a tough task ahead of him in correcting the ship out with the Bulldogs, but it sounds like he has a lot of confidence in himself thanks to Heupel.

Other Tennessee News:

• Travis Smith Jr Sets Commitment Date
• George MacIntyre Accepts Invitation To Elite 11
• Josh Heupel Details Importance of 2022 Alabama Victory

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